Sexual-Assault prevention training within the Defense Department now will include more avenues of recourse for victims, under a series of revisions unveiled Sept. 25. New standards also will apply for each of the armed services, so that responses to victims’ claims no longer will be disparate. Among the changes:
* The disposition authority – the hierarchical level within the legal system that can adjudicate a possible violation of military law – will be elevated;
* The Pentagon and Congress will work together to establish a special victims unit for sexual-assault cases, staffed by specially trained investigators and prosecutors;
* A data base will track incidents of sexual assault within the military, while incorporating protections for victims’ privacy;
* Service members who report sexual-assault incidents will have a quicker avenue of transferring away from accused assailants.
